A-Trak - Hollerboard Redux Set

There's no debating A-Trak's spot on the Mount Rushmore of DJs. You could literally spend days, if not weeks, enjoying his wide range of sets and mixes. Back in October of 2015 he dropped his "Bloghaus Revival Mix," with the followup coming about about six months later, here. While he didn't directly reference the Erol Alkan forum, it no doubt played part in the track selection as a hub for electronic music aficionados from around 2007-2009. Last night he released a recording of a September 28th set in Philadelphia entitled "Hollerboard Redux Set."

As he mentions in the description, this Hollerboard Redux party arose from the message board of the same name, based around Diplo and Low Budget's Hollertronix parties. Before Soundcloud and EDM, it was message boards and forums like Erol Alkan's and Hollerboard where DJs and fans alike shared mashups and "lesser-known regional styles," bringing incredible creativity and experimentation to DJ sets. The result below, a mix of tracks from the Hollerboard Era and new songs with the same spirit, is one of the widest ranging sets you'll ever hear. Where else are you going to get Billy Joel pitted against A$AP Rocky & Skepta in the same hour as Justin Timberlake, Parliament, Bloc Party and Kraftwerk.
The back and forth in the mix is incredible. One minute you're popping off to Cajmere "Percolator" the next your gliding across the floor to A-Trak's ABBA aided "Voulez-Vous" or pumping up the jam before releasing the beast on Hall & Oates. That said, A-Trak's made all of those transitions fit together better than PB&J. Like Kid Sister's "Pro Nails," which he helped write, this mix is dressed to the nines, "toes done up with her finger nails matchin'." Just one look at the massive tracklist, almost as wide as it is tall, and you'll realize what kind of treat you're in for. It's some serious "Laffy Taffy" as A-Trak's journey is sure to leave your head spinning.

Finally, as writing this A-Trak tweeted out a list of his DJ sets from Hollerboard to Bloghaus to Rap and Cut It Out (here). If you've missed any of these, make sure to save or download for your holiday parties!

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Bump In The Hump Sneak Peek: Ever After

While summer started for most of Humber last month and I've been claiming festival season has already arrived, this weekend will mark the true kick off with hundreds of ravers, bass-heads and music-lovers alike heading to Kitchener for Ever After. As always I'll get you set with the Weekend Warmup which this week features six artists playing Bingemans Park. There's Price & Takis, Krimer, Excision, Downlink, Snails and friend of the show Bill Slinnton among a long list of locals playing the Ontario Stage. More info about everything Ever After on their website here and Facebook event here.

While I usually tease with a track or two, I'll simply leave Ever After's official Spotify playlist below.Of course there's more than just Ever After happening this weekend, so we look ahead to Flight Facilities Friday at The Phoenix Concert Theatre (RSVP/Tickets), and back at Hall & Oates' show at the ACC last night. There's also a handful of artist debuts to go along with one of the heaviest episodes to date. Catch Bump In The Hump live from 7-9 PM EDT via Radio Humber and find it, and all previous episodes, cataloged on Mixcloud here.

The Melker Project - Ballin' Oates

No it's not Throwback Thursday, but today I got invited to see Hall & Oates at the Air Canada Centre. So I figured no better time to share one of my favourite projects, that of Scott Melker and his ingenious combination of classics from Fleetwood Mac, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and of course Hall & Oates, with rap, hip hop and RnB. Sadly removed from Soundcloud (but still on Youtube below) the Ballin' Oates project is my favourite with Wu-Tang, T.I., Twista and others adding to the allure that is Hall & Oates.

The classics from Hall & Oates are unmistakable, undeniable and still stand strong despite all the additional instrumentation and vocals, and the first track "Claneater" is a perfect example of that. Pitting Wu-Tang against "Maneater" shows off Melker's masterful recasting, as these are actually not the originals, but completely replayed and remixed versions with additional acapellas. And like with "What You Know? You're Out Of Touch!" the pop perfection of their backing track continues to resonate resplendent despite this trapped out recasting.

The visceral vibrations each of these tracks brings is exactly why I'm so excited to see duo take the stage tonight; there is just some kind of magic that permeates throughout their productions. And again that alchemy comes through in droves as Twista's fearsome flow bounces atop the keys of  "Kiss On My List," as though straight out of Big. These tracks are tremendously fun too, and I don't mean just the production either; part of the fun arises in the names as "Rich Girl Meets Rich Boy" and gets some d's thrown on it. The final track "Melker Can't Go For That" doesn't get any additional vocals, but instead receives a pure remix from the man himself. It further showcases Melker's mindset and dank trapped out delivery, alongside the supremely smooth and sultry original synths. It is the kind of track you could end a set or evening with, sonically laying listeners down easy, tucking them in for the night.

If this excites you at all, I strongly recommend checking out more of Melker's catalog (best done through Youtube). Also be sure to follow his socials below and maybe you'll find some download links.

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Bump In The Hump Sneak Peek: Hanz Ford - Enlightenment Takes Wattage EP

We first heard from the man most often known as Hanz Ford, when he released his track made for the deadmau5 Masterclass "Follow The Rawbit," albeit under his more tempered pseudonym RoHawn. Shortly after that we went 3 weeks in a row with progressively deeper and darker tracks from the heavy hitting Hanz Ford. Now this week he released his first EP, Enlightenment Takes Wattage, which pits Alan Watts voice-over on top of equally penetrating productions. The ideals of Eastern Philosophy work well with the penetrating bass, destroying personal identity so as to achieve higher consciousness. As a big fan of Pink Floyd, and someone who finds this kind of deep thought sadly absent from the vast majority of electronic music, I'm over the moon that we've finally got some truly smart and thought-provoking music. Stream the EP below, and catch one of the tracks on Bump In The Hump tonight.But perhaps you just want to shut your brain off and dance, and not to fear, I've got some brain-dead bangers as well. As always Bump In The Hump gradually picks up steam running through a healthy serving of house from Sultan + Shepard through to Bobby Love's remix of the legendary Giorgio Moroder. The legends just keep on coming as Pomo takes on Hall & Oates, and how about a G-House remix of RL Grime? There's also new Keys N Krates and the long awaited TroyBoi, Ekali collab. We've even got some psy-trance, so yeah it's safe to say we've got it all. Get in on the madness fro, 6-8 PM EST live via Radio Humber here and after the fact on Mixcloud, here.

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